My latest column is on “uptalk” an vocal fry, and the generally unmeetable standards women’s voices are held to. While I admire the efforts of feminists like Lake Bell to tackle the problem at a short-term and practical level—telling women to deepen and in some ways masculinize their speech—the fact remains that women have to walk a tightrope when taking such advice: be authoritative but not mannish, firm but not angry, and so on.